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Matthew 9:17 (NLT)
[Jesus continued] “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. The old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. That way both the wine and the wineskins are preserved.”

DRAWING NOTES:

TIME OF DAY:
Unspecified in the Bible narrative. Daytime.

LIGHTING NOTES:
The sun (high on the right (East) illuminate this scene, casting shadows below and to the left of the figure and objects.

CHARACTERS PRESENT:
A woman.

RESEARCH/ADDITIONAL NOTES:
This scene shows a woman pouring new wine into an old wineskin, which is exploding. I have drawn the same woman I drew in the previous scene “Matthew 09 – Parable of new cloth on old coat”, since these scenes are related.

New wine expands as it ferments, increasing the pressure in its container (if the container is sealed). If a new wineskin is used as that container, then its elasticity can handle the fermentation-induced expansion. But, if new wine is poured into an old wineskin (that has lost its elasticity), then the fermenting wine would burst the old wineskin, and all the wine stored in it would be lost.

Jesus (In this parable) is again emphasizing the fact that He is doing something new. The old religious experiences and expectations (e.g. the expectation that everyone must fast on certain days set by the religious leadership) proved inadequate for 1st Century believers. Jesus was ushering in a new series of expectations: it was time to adjust them. Jesus’ ministry was clearly not going to fit into preconceived ideas and tired rituals of the past. Like the wine exploding out of the old wineskins, an inflexible adherence to the old ways and traditions would result in spiritual loss.

We can’t mix old religious rituals with new faith in Jesus. Since He fulfilled and completed the law there is no longer any need to continue in it. There is even less need to continue with old, man-made rituals. In effect Jesus cannot be added to a works-based religion; as Paul wrote (in Galatians 2:21): “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

Here is the scene without the figure in the foreground.

Background of Matthew 09 – Parable of new wine and old wineskins

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Background of Matthew 09 – Parable of new wine and old wineskins